Telescope Camera Debuts With Peek At Nest Of Black Holes

Less than two months after they inaugurated the world’s largest telescope, University of Florida astronomers have used one of the world’s most advanced telescopic instruments to gather images of the heavens.

A team led by astronomy professor Stephen Eikenberry late last week captured the first images of the cosmos ever made with a UF-designed and built camera/spectrometer affixed to the Gemini South telescope in Chile. The handful of “first light” images include a yellow and blue orb-like structure that depicts our Milky Way galaxy, home to thousands of black holes – including, at its core, a “supermassive” black hole thought to be as massive as 4 million suns put together.

“We plan to use this instrument to provide the first accurate tracking of the growth and evolution of this black hole over the last 4 billion years,” Eikenberry says.

Installation of the instrument, called FLAMINGOS-2, caps a seven-year, $5 million effort involving 30 UF scientists, engineers, students and staff. Once the instrument is scientifically tested — a process expected to last around six months — it will support a range of new science. Astronomers will use FLAMINGOS-2 (FLAMINGOS is short for the Florida Array Multi-object Imaging Grism Spectrometer) to hunt the universe’s first galaxies, view stars as they are being born, reveal black holes and investigate other phenomena.

“Achieving first light is a great achievement and important milestone,” says Nancy Levenson, deputy director of the Gemini Observatory.

The 8-meter Gemini South telescope in the Chilean Andes is one of only about a dozen 8- to 10-meter telescopes worldwide. All require technologically sophisticated instruments to interpret the light they gather. FLAMINGOS-2 “sees” near-infrared or heat-generated light beyond the range of human vision. It can reveal objects invisible to the eye, such as stars obscured by cosmic dust, or objects so far away they have next to no visible light.

The instrument joins other near-infrared imagers installed on other large telescopes. But it is unusual in its ability to also act as a spectrometer, dividing the light into its component wavelengths. Astronomers analyze these wavelengths to figure out what distant objects are made of, how hot or cold they are, their distance from Earth, and other qualities.

Uniquely, FLAMINGOS-2 can take spectra of up to 80 different objects simultaneously, speeding astronomers’ hunt for old galaxies, black holes or newly forming stars and planets.

“At a cost of $1 per second for operating the Gemini telescope, it will make a huge gain in the scientific productivity and efficiency of the observatory,” Eikenberry says. “What would take an entire year previously can now be done in four nights. This is a real game changer.”

Astronomers compete heavily for time on the world’s largest telescopes, often waiting months or years for the opportunity to make observations. Eikenberry said his FLAMINGOS-2 agreement with Gemini South entitles him to at least 25 nights of observations. He will use the time to contribute to three large studies, or surveys, of the sky headed by UF astronomers.

The first is aimed at learning more about the thousands of black holes and neutron stars at the Milky Way’s center. The second will probe the formation and evolution of galaxies across time, while the third will investigate the birth of new stars.

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Large Area Telescope Explores High-Energy Particles

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is making some exciting discoveries about cosmic rays and the Large Area Telescope aboard Fermi is the tool in this investigation. Scientists in the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL's) Space Science Division were instrumental in the design and development of the Large Area Telescope (LAT).

Cosmic rays are electrons, positrons, and atomic nuclei that move at nearly the speed of light. Astronomers believe that the high-energy cosmic rays originate from exotic places in the galaxy, such as the debris of exploded stars.

The LAT is a wide field-of-view imaging telescope, which consists of a tracker that determines the trajectory of the gamma ray or cosmic ray being measured, and an NRL-developed cesium-iodide calorimeter that determines the energy of the incoming ray. A charged-particle anti-coincidence shield helps filter out unwanted signals, such as those produced by background particles. LAT was developed for detecting gamma rays; however, it is also proving to be a great tool for studying the high-energy electrons in cosmic rays.

Gamma rays travel in straight lines, so scientists are able to pinpoint their sources simply by measuring the direction of each gamma ray as it arrives at the LAT. In contrast, cosmic rays diffuse through our Galaxy, scattering off and spiraling through the turbulent galactic magnetic fields. Because of their movements, scientists find it challenging to determine where the cosmic rays originated. One of Fermi's main goals is determining the sources of cosmic rays.

NRL's highly sensitive LAT measured the energies of more than four million high-energy electrons between August 2008 and January 2009, far more high-energy electrons than have ever been studied before. This extremely large data set allowed scientists to make a precise census of high-energy electrons and led to a surprising excess in the rate of electrons striking the LAT, more than expected from earlier measurements and theoretical models. The LAT data appear to be key to understanding electron measurements made from the European satellite PAMELA and the ground-based High Energy Spectroscopic System located in Namibia.

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Raw Video: Repairing Hubble Space Telescope

For the second straight day, astronauts stepped out on a spacewalk Sunday to bring a scientific instrument back from the dead on the Hubble Space Telescope.

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1st North American Antenna Enables ALMA Observatory to Do Its Thing

Astronomers today celebrated the formal acceptance of the first North American antenna by the Joint ALMA Observatory. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is a gathering armada of short-wavelength radio telescopes whose combined power will enable astronomers to probe with unprecedented sharpness phenomena and regions that are beyond the reach of visible-light telescopes. The observatory is being assembled high in the Chilean Andes by a global partnership.

With ALMA, astronomers will study the universe, the molecular gas and tiny dust grains from which stars, planetary systems, galaxies and even life are formed. ALMA will provide new insights into the formation of stars and planets and will reveal distant galaxies in the early universe, which we will see as they were over 10 billion years ago.

The 12-meter-diameter antenna delivered today is the first of 25 being provided by North America's ALMA partners, whose efforts are led by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada and the National Science Council of Taiwan. The antenna was manufactured by General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies.

The acceptance comes just weeks after the first ALMA antenna--produced under the direction of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan on behalf of ALMA's East Asian partners--was handed over to the observatory.

"These ALMA antennas are technological marvels," says ALMA Director Thijs de Graauw. "They are more precise and more capable than any ever made. Their performance in the harsh winds and temperatures of our high-altitude site bodes well for the observatory's future."

A single 12-meter antenna's dish is bigger than the largest optical telescope's reflective mirror, but to match the sharpness achieved by an optical telescope, a millimeter-wavelength dish would have to be impossibly large, miles across. ALMA will combine signals from dozens of antennas spread across miles of desert to synthesize the effective sharpness of such a single, gigantic antenna. The process, called "interferometry," involves analysis of the ways in which the signals coming from each antenna interfere with one another.

"This is a major milestone for the ALMA project," says Philip Puxley, NSF's ALMA program manager. "With two antennas now on site, we begin the real work of combining signals from them. We are advancing toward ALMA's ultimate goal of surpassing by tenfold existing technology in this area for sharper resolution, sensitivity and image quality."

ALMA officials expect the pace of antenna acceptance to accelerate. "We have nine North American antennas on site already," said Adrian Russell, NRAO's ALMA project director. "Following handover of Number Three, we plan to get one through the test procedure each month. Additional North American antennas will be arriving in Chile at a rate of one every two months, and General Dynamics is on track to complete delivery of these systems within days of the original schedule."

The antennas, which each weigh about 100 tons, can be moved to different positions in order to reconfigure the ALMA telescope. This repositioning will be carried out by two custom-designed transporters, each of which is some 33 feet wide, 66 feet long, and has 28 wheels.

When completed early this decade, ALMA will have a total of 66 antennas, with an option for further expansion, provided by partners in North America, Europe and East Asia. The first European antennas, produced under the auspices of the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere are scheduled to begin arriving early this year.

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Telescope Funding In Peril

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Cost Overruns, Cancelling of Small Missions Have Led to Lost Science Opportunities at NASA

NASA’s astrophysics program has achieved the agency’s highest priority goals by focusing on large missions such as the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes but in doing so, it has squeezed out smaller missions that could be laying the foundation for future scientific discovery, says a new report from the National Research Council.

“The progress in astrophysical science over the past decade has been remarkable,” says Martha Haynes, vice chair of the committee that wrote the report and Goldwin Smith professor of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. “However, the revolutionary discoveries were based on missions NASA developed the decade before. We are concerned about 2010 and beyond because there are no low-cost, quick-response science programs being prepared today.”

The committee was tasked with assessing how well programs in NASA's astrophysics division – which studies objects such as stars and galaxies and their interactions – address the strategies, goals, and priorities outlined in previous National Research Council reports, primarily Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium (2001) and Connecting Quarks With the Cosmos (2003).

The one-year study determined that although NASA's astrophysics budget is close to a historic high, priority missions have experienced enormous cost overruns -- roughly $2 billion from 2000 to 2010 -- which has left fewer resources for small missions. Also, in recent years, instability in the astrophysics division due to management and mission changes has diminished progress and momentum for realizing scientific opportunities outlined in the Research Council’s decadal survey. In addition, the cuts that have been made to smaller missions have disrupted the training of young scientists who would be the natural leaders of the medium and large-size missions in the future.

The report recommends that NASA find a way to do small-scale low-cost missions that can be quickly conceived, built, and launched. For starters, the agency should restore funding for the Science Mission Directorate’s Explorer Program to its level from five years ago. NASA has launched over 80 successful Explorer spacecraft for a wide range of scientific investigations over the past half century.

The committee also recommends that NASA limit mission costs by exploring less expensive launch services and re-examining whether mission safety requirements match the missions size. Relaxing de-orbiting requirements for smaller spacecraft involved in low-cost missions, and strengthening international collaborations on missions of all sizes could also control costs, the report says.

The study was sponsored by NASA. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

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NASA Investigates One of Hubble's Science Instruments

NASA engineers are examining a problem related to the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the agency's Hubble Space Telescope.

On Jan. 27, the observatory entered a protective "safemode" condition at 7:34 a.m. EST. An initial investigation indicates the camera has stopped functioning, and the input power feed to its Side B electronics package has failed, NASA says.

The instrument had been operating on its redundant electronics since June 30, 2006, when NASA engineers transitioned from the primary, Side A, electronics package due to a malfunction. Engineers currently are assessing the option to return ACS science operations to the primary electronics sothat observations could resume in a reduced mode, according to the space agency.

Hubble was recovered from safemode around 2 a.m. EST on Jan. 28, and science observations will resume this week using the remaining Hubble instruments: Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, Near Infrared Camera Multi-Object Spectrograph, and the Fine Guidance Sensors.

In November, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore selected a set of backup non-ACS science programs for use in case of afuture ACS anomaly. These programs now will be inserted into the science schedule to maintain a highly productive observing program, NASA says.

An Anomaly Review Board was appointed on Jan. 29, to investigate the ACS anomaly. The board will perform a thorough investigation and assessment to decide the best course of action. The board is scheduled to present their findings and recommendations by March 2.

"It is too early to know what influences the ACS anomaly may have on Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission-4 planning," says Preston Burch, associate director/program manager for the Hubble Space Telescope. "It is important that the review board conduct a thorough investigation that will allow us to determine if there are any changes needed in the new instruments that will be installed on the upcoming servicing mission sothat we can be sure of maximizing the telescope's scientific output. We arecontinuing to make excellent progress in our preparations for the servicing mission, which is presently targeted to fly in September 2008."

The Advanced Camera for Surveys is a third-generation instrument consisting of three electronic cameras, filters and dispersers that detectlight from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. The instrument was installed during a March 2002, servicing mission. It was developed jointly by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; Ball Aerospace, Boulder, Colo.; and the Space Telescope Science Institute.

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Google Joins Telescope Project

Google has joined a group of 19 universities and national labs that are building the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).

Scheduled to begin operations in 2013, the 8.4-meter LSST will be able to survey the entire visible southern sky deeply in multiple colors every week with its three-billion pixel digital camera, probing the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, and opening a movie-like window on objects that change or move rapidly: exploding supernovae, potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids as small as 100 meters, and distant Kuiper Belt Objects. LSST is a public-private partnership.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a publicly traded U.S. company, specializing in Internet search and online advertising, according to Wikipedia. The company had 9,378 full-time employees as of Sept. 30, 2006, and is based in Mountain View, Calif.

Google's mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of "googol," which refers to 10100 (the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros), Wikipedia notes. The verb "google" was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet," it adds.

LSST and Google share many of the same goals: organizing massive quantities of data and making it useful. Over 30,000 gigabytes (30TB) of images will be generated every night during the decade-long LSST sky survey. The massive amount of data from LSST must be managed efficiently and analyzed in real time.

Key areas in the Google-LSST collaboration will be: organizing the massive ingestion of information, processing and analyzing the continuous data streams in a 24/7 fault tolerant manner, enabling the new discoveries coming out of the LSST to be made available to the public and researchers in real time, and working with and managing large parallel data systems. In addition to aiding professional scientists and amateur astronomers, properly organized the LSST data will generate a new and dynamic view of the night sky for the public. LSST data will be valuable to curious minds of all ages, and will provide a powerful teaching tool.
In applying for membership, William Coughran, Google VP of Engineering, says, “Google’s mission is to take the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. The data from LSST will be an important part of the world’s information, and by being involved in the project we hope to make it easier for that data to become accessible and useful.”

"The LSST will be the world's most powerful survey telescope, with vast data management challenges. LSST engineers and scientists have been collaborating with Google on a number of these exciting opportunities. Even though the Universe is very old, exciting things happen every second. The LSST will be able to find these events hundreds of times better than today's other big telescopes. Google will help us organize and present the seemingly overwhelming volumes of data collected by the LSST,” says Donald Sweeney, LSST project manager.
“Partnering with Google will significantly enhance our ability to convert LSST data to knowledge,” says University of California at Davis professor and LSST Director J. Anthony Tyson. “LSST will change the way we observe the universe by mapping the visible sky deeply, rapidly, and continuously. It will open entirely new windows on our universe, yielding discoveries in a variety of areas of astronomy and fundamental physics. Innovations in data management will play a central role.”

In 2003, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Research Corporation, The University of Arizona, and the University of Washington formed the LSST Corporation, a non-profit 501(c)3 Arizona corporation, with headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. Membership has expanded to include Brookhaven National Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Google Inc., Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology - Stanford University, Las Cumbres Observatory Inc., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Princeton University, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University of California at Davis, University of California at Irvine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and University of Pennsylvania.

The LSST research and development effort is funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Additional funding comes from private donations, in-kind support at Department of Energy laboratories and other LSST institutional members.


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